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By Mark Polishuk | at
Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat
MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com
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“The Rockies are still indeed on the hook for that $31MM, due to Arenado staying in his deal. It would be kind of funny if he did this out of pure spite, but I’ll bet that was part of his thinking in another way. Like, “hey, that’s $31MM more the Cards have to spend on more upgrades.””
Don’t be surprised if the Cards extend him as a thank you for letting the Rockies pay the $31 mil.
Which is why the Rockies are one of the worst organisations in pro sports, if not the worst.
Wait, not the Angels like so many people on this board like to claim?
Suffering Angels Fan
9:14 How have the Angels been so bad for so long considering their payroll and talent? Do you think they are a couple of key moves away from contention or do the issues run deeper?
Mark P
9:15 It’s a number of issues. It seems like Moreno takes too much of a hand in baseball operations, plus the front office and farm system hasn’t been able to consistently draft and develop talent.
9:16 It’s not a long list of players who have gotten better after arriving in Anaheim, and a lot of guys have suddenly turned south after becoming Angels.
If anything, it might make Trout and Ohtani seem even more spectacular
–
I wrote something recently in a post that was either lost due to technical problems or deleted.
Orange County, Calif. has an extremely laid-back atmosphere. It’s also quite affluent. I’ve been to the Stadium. One time when I stood up to see a close play an usher tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to sit down. No kidding. Friends with me from NYC started laughing. Don’t know if they still do that there.
Nevertheless, the intensity that one sees particularly in the East and Midwest over baseball is simply not there. That seems to rub off on the players that live there at least through the season. Very few name players that get large contracts and come to play for the Angels seem to do better there.
Samuel I figured the night life was to blame but the apathy factor works for me. Thanks for sharing! That is a interesting take!
Holy crap… you’ve BEEN to the stadium??? We should all listen to what this guy has to say!
The Big “A” itself Fletch!
FletcherFan69;
Make fun of me all you want.
I’d suggest that in the future anyone here that lives outside of Orange County and wonders about the Angels thrashing around year after year needs to watch their team play the Angels in Anaheim on TV.
At critical points see if you see fans standing, clapping, and shouting encouragement – perhaps to their pitcher that has 2 strikes on a batter. Things that are normal with teams in Eastern and many Midwestern cities.
Like all human beings, players are affected by the environment they work and live in. Angels fans seem to view MLB more as entertainment than possibly any other city in MLB. The majority of fans would prefer to win, but it’s OK if they don’t. What’s amazing is that since so many MLB players come from Southern California one would think the fans would be intense.
You are mostly right Sam. But still, there are still some fans (like myself) who are not piker/morons and want them to win another world series….I have been through thick and thin with the Halos (mostly thin) and I promise you my friend that I merely want to see them back in the playoffs kicking butt!!
Sam, why do you think I talk about the overlooked hot bed of talent out here so much? The JUCO players….HS players….Scouts in SoCal are asleep at the switch my friend…
Samuel: How would you compare the Anaheim crowd to the ChaveZ Ravine crowd?? From my blinkered perspective via the boob tube, Dodger fans seem fairly feisty and alive. How should we compare these two cohorts of fans, that can’t be more than 45 minutes apart??? Are they really that different?
Well one thing I would say is they have vastly different products on the field to root for. The fans in Anaheim have been conditioned now for almost a decade to expect mediocrity, inconsistency, with occasional fireworks from their two superstars. Also I would say a good percentage of each crowd at an Anaheim game are there on the downswing from their Disneyland extravaganza, just there to ogle a pair of baseball uber-royalty but without much allegiance or fervor for the Anaheim Angels themselves. It’s just another checkbox on their sightseeing itinerary before they fly back to Akron with the kiddos. Which seems to me to explain the lackadaisical crowds at Arte Moreno’s Magical Kingdom.
TrumboJumbo;
I doubt that MLB scouts are overlooking the SoCal area.
Sam, don’t doubt too hard. I go to these games…I see these guys go undrafted….You give too many of these people blind credit. There are plenty of people who know baseball that are not paid for it.
There are also A LOT of solid Halo fans who do know baseball and are very loyal. Comparing Dodger and Angel fans is a supreme exercise in futility. Has no bearing over each other. I go to each stadium a few dozen times a season so I see and hear everything that goes on at these places.
You can’t dismiss my notion so fast about the scouts unless you have seen the talent pool up close year over year like I have Sam. I do not know of your interactions with scouts, but Sam, my good pal, you would be STUNNED at some of these guys..What some of them are looking for etc…
TrumboJumbo;
MLB scouts blanket the SoCal area, as well as areas in Florida and (recently) south Georgia. Primarily because baseball is played 12 months a year there (in the wintertime during the day).
Scouting personnel from directors to scouts base their success on finding quality prospects. I find it hard to believe they’re ignoring the SoCal area. I would guess that they’re finding better players elsewhere.
It would be interesting to find out what a player can do to continue to play after school if he’s not drafted. I know there are independent minor league teams, but only so many openings. When I was growing up there were organized amateur teams that played in the area. Scouts got some leads there.
Consider that there are only X amount of ML jobs, and that minor league teams are being contracted as a minor league players union has started – meaning teams will now have more expenses coming and those teams already had to be subsidized by major league teams as they lose money. Add in that many players come from other countries that have baseball academy’s in place.
In short, it’s petty competitive to even get signed to play minor league ball.
Ahhh darnit Sam!!!! You are right in everything you are saying except for crux of it all! The talent IS here! The scouts have become acclimated to it all….They have such an abundance of talent that they are holding themselves to ill-conceived/misplaced standards. The scouts are disilusioned. Life after not getting drafted? Always IndyBall. IndyBall is the way to go. And attending pro try-outs when they sparsely become available.
Sam, you are talkin my area now…Pretty close I would say….Laid back, majority affluent fans….The Ushers get EXTREMELY snippy…they are mostly all retired individuals….I went to a game there a couple months back while wearing my maroon Dodger hat and the ushers all got snippy with me and pestered me. You will never see any brawls there though…Always very safe…
Wasn’t the virgin Connie swail from Anaheim?
GENO !!!! “They wrote me off, I didn’t write back”
I’m interested to see the Cubs direction this off-season since Hoyer has teased interest in high end shortstop market as well as having rumored interest in players such as Jose Abreu. The Cubs spent a lot of money on Suzuki and Stroman last off-season and the way I see it, have approximately 75 million to spend if they want to push but stay below the luxury tax with approximately anther 70 million coming off after next season (Heyward, Happ, Stroman, Hendricks)
The Cubs need clear upgrades at either first or third (Wisdom can handle the other) DH and centerfield. Production for 1st and center was awful last year and Wilco being a free agent creates a hole at DH.
Can someone explain the “Beans-Bees” thing. I’ve seen it twice now
Just can’t see a deal working out between the Rangers and Marlins with Adolis Garcia and Pablo Lopez as the centerpieces. Why would Texas give up a guy who had 25 jacks, 25 steals, likely would have won a gold glove had he not divided his time between centerfield and right field, and has FOUR years of control for a 10-10 starting pitcher who has TWO years of control. Has the cost of starting pitching on the trade market become that outrageous?
Zac
8:25 Why didnt/couldn’t mlb move up the start of the world series once both teams were locked in? This last break was longer than the bye rounds for 1st place finishers.
Mark P
8:26 The schedule was already locked in for TV purposes.
They reschedule everything when there’s a rainout?